What a crazy freakin day!

Before I start this story, let me just saw I am OK, Curt is OK, and our neighbors are OK.

So today I went to the gym and then grocery. At the grocery I rented a Rug Doctor to clean our carpet. I thought today would be a good day since Curt had to work. Later in the day my plan was to meet my friend Jenn for dinner. When I was renting the carpet cleaner I had to show ID and credit card. As the guy was taking down my address he noticed the name of my street and asked me what was going on. I told him I hadn't been home since earlier in the morning. He told me he saw a bunch of cop cars.

So I get to my street and sure enough it is closed off on both sides. I ask if I can get to my house. The cops tell me they can't let me in because of the crime scene. I have no idea what has happened.

I pulled over to the next street and parked and tried to figure out what I was gonna do. I saw my upstairs neighbor and his daughter. They told me that next door neighbor's ex-boyfriend came over with what appeared to be a gun. The cops showed up and the guy was shot dead. (That was a very brief description.) Details here and here. Those two had a history of some nasty fights, too. (It's quiet possible that Joey witnessed the entire incident from his kitty perch.)

I was supposed to get some stuff done around the house, including cleaning the carpet. Then the plan was to meet my friend Jenn for dinner. (She was planning to come to my 'hood early to hang out in a coffee shop and do some studying.)

So I called her to see if she could meet earlier. I then bundled my cold groceries together and headed to McNally's for a warm drink (I didn't have super warm clothes on as I was still in my gym clothes) and to go to the bathroom. When I can't get to my house where do I go? I go see my favorite bartender, John.

I met up with Jenn after my drink at McNally's and we had lunch and wine. Lovely. Then we decided to see if my street was clear. It was. I asked the officers at the house next door if I could go into my house. They said yes. So I went to the street over to get the car, groceries and carpet cleaner.

After dropping everything off and changing into warmer, non-workout clothes Jenn and I headed to coffee. Then I came home and cleaned my carpet.

Once done with the carpet cleaning I was exhausted. So I took a shower and now Curt and I are relaxing with beer, venison pepperoni sticks and Portlandia.

A weekend experiment

This past weekend (which wasn't too exciting of a weekend--need a break from the exciting ones) we were careful with how we spent our money.

I went to the grocery on Saturday and Curt hit the liquor store for beer. But other than that no visits to McNally's, no eating out once or twice or three times over the weekend.

I was busy enough around the house to not notice so much.

And instead of paying someone else, I gave myself my own pedicure. Of course, not as fun as someone else doing it. But much cheaper.

I don't want to be doing this experiment all the time. But sometimes it is a good thing.

We are fairly comfortable--but not rich.

Last weekend

This weekend wasn't too exciting. But I did get a lot of stuff done around the house, which was great. We have many people visiting next month and our house was a pit and especially the spare room. The extra room is slowly coming back to being acceptable once again for guests.

Last weekend was a great weekend. It first started Friday night with my company holiday party. Curt and I stayed at the Intercontinental, where the party was held. I left work a little early and headed to the hotel for a little relax time and to get ready. Curt joined me at the hotel. Eventually we headed down to the party for first, cocktail hour, then dinner and then dancing with an amazing band. A small group of us lasted till the very end. A few pics from the party are here.

Saturday Curt and I headed to Portland for the rest of the weekend. We arrived Saturday night and almost immediately headed to Montage for dinner. We had oyster shooters, I had my Spicy Mac and Curt had his Crawfish Ettoufee.

Sunday morning we met up with our friends Don and Kristin and their kids, Chase and Annie for brunch at Edgefield. The food was so good. And, of course, the visit was great.

After that visit we headed to Angela and Michael's to visit with them and Lenore. We hung around the house and then headed out for a bite to eat. After some beers and food we walked around the area we were hanging out in. It was cool to walk around and it gave Lenore some moving around time. She was pretty good while we were at Prost. After that we headed back to their house to hang out until bed time, Lenore's, that is.

Once Curt and I left we headed to the Horse Brass Pub for dinner.

Monday morning we had breakfast with one of Curt's former co-workers. Yummy breakfast (there are so many great places to eat in Portland) and a fun visit. After breakfast back to Angela and Michael's to visit before nap time, Lenore's again.

We headed to NW Portland for lunch and to walk around a bit before heading to the airport.

It was a great weekend. We love Portland and miss Portland.

Check out our Portland pics here.

I finally uploaded all my pics from our Christmas season. Check them out here.

Celebrations and tragedy

My weekend started Friday evening with a yoga class and then a fun night out with some of my gym buddies. A group of us took our friend Jenn out to dinner to celebrate her birthday. We had a delicious dinner and so much fun. This group of ladies is totally awesome. I look forward to the next outing.

Saturday I met all those ladies and many more for spin Saturday morning.

After my two hours at the gym I rushed home for a quick shower and something to eat before heading to my hair appointment.

After that Curt and I headed to Jacob and Aileen going away/wedding reception party. Our dear friends are moving to Chicago soon. We are sad to see them go. But we are excited for this new adventure in their lives. And we look forward to visiting at some point.

This morning I hit the grocery and then yoga.

After I came home Curt and I headed out to lunch and then McNally's for drinks and football.

It seems like the weekend always ends too quickly. Boo.

In case anyone is wondering (I posted this on Facebook earlier): Despite the horrific tragedy in my hometown yesterday and the recent ugly politics in my home state I am still proud to be an Arizona girl. My heart is heavy over the deaths, especially the 9-year-old. Despite what you see and may believe, not all Arizonans have hatred in their hearts.

A new year

The rest of our time in San Diego was relaxing and enjoyable. There was football watching, beer drinking and eating of lots of great food.

Thursday Curt and I headed to Ocean Beach for fish tacos and some wandering around.

We found a new place to eat dinner pretty much every night: Nick's. Good food and decent pick in drinks.

Friday we headed back to the Bay Area. The small San Diego airport was absolutely nuts. I guess that is what we get for traveling back the day after the Holiday Bowl.

Friday evening was quiet and loungy. I somehow managed to stay up until midnight. Joey and I spent most of the evening on the couch watching movies.

Saturday I attended a two-hour yoga workshop at the studio in our neighborhood. Then the rest of the day was mostly relaxing with movie watching and knitting.

Today I started to get back into the regular groove and routine. Grocery shopping this morning and then yoga at 10:45. The rest of today has been a little laundry, movie watching, knitting, dishes, making homemade healthy soup, sorting through mail, etc. I thought about taking down the tree and the other Christmas decorations. Maybe next weekend.

After 11 days off from work and a nice vacation tomorrow back to work. Bleh!